Page 79 of Stay With Me

She began to feel more uncomfortable with the idea that she had no idea where Nick was or how he was doing. It was strange. They’d only been stuck out there for about eighteen hours, but it felt like a lifetime when she was in the midst of it. Eighteen hours during which she hoped and prayed and pleaded that hejust not diewhile she held his hand and attempted to hold herself together.

She noticed that she felt extremely attached to and protective of him, which was both weird and reasonable at the same time. Weird because she still barely knew him, and reasonable because looking after him for that relatively brief period of time had been the sole source of her limited sanity in a terrifying situation.

And now she didn’t even know if he was alive. What if he hadn’t made it? What if he’d gotten some kind of infection from his gnarly leg injury and it killed him because they hadn’t gotten help soon enough? Or what if he was alive and blamed her for the entire accident? He’d probably hate her and never want to see her again.

Her eyes grew slightly.

Maybe that was why nobody could tell her where he was. Maybe he’d told them to keep her away from him. Surely if he was alive and not mad at her, he’d want to see her. Wouldn’t he?

So basically, he was either dead or he hated her.

At that moment, her nurse, Charlotte, entered her room again, along with a man in a uniform of sorts.

“Samantha, this is Ranger Bennett. He’s from the park and he has a few questions for you.”

Samantha’s stomach clenched into a tight knot.

What if Nick thinks I pushed him? What if he died and the park thinks I was responsible? What if I’m going to jail?

Her heart pounded and her whole body shook.

Ranger Bennett stepped next to the bed. “How are you, Samantha?”

“Fine,” she squeaked.

“I’m glad to hear that. I heard you had a pretty frightening experience yesterday.”

She gulped. “Yeah.”

He looked at his small notepad. “And you were visiting the park with Nick … uh … hmm. I don’t have his last name.”

“Chapman,” she offered.

He scribbled on the pad. “Thank you. Now, did you come in a single vehicle or did you arrive separately?”

“We came together in his car.”

“And do you happen to have the make, model, and license plate number?”

“It’s an Audi. Some kind of SUV. It’s black.”

“Which campsite did you register for when you arrived?”

“Oh. Hmm. I think it was called Nine Points something.”

“Nine Point Draw?”

“Yes, that’s what it was.”

“Excellent,” he said, scribbling some more and then closing the notebook. “Thank you, Samantha.”

She squinted at him. “Is that it?”

“Yes. We keep a record of these types of incidents and need to know that you’ve vacated the site early so we’ll know not to send help when you don’t return on schedule.”

Ranger Bennett chuckled while Samantha gave him an incredulous look.

“You mean you don’t know where Nick is either?”